EGYPTIANS' SECRETS REVEALED IN HORIZONS CLASS

The stories of ancient Egypt are about beauty and politics, revolution and art. They are stories of gods and farmers, the teacher said.

Elaine Mardus, an instructor for the Horizons Adult Education Program's winter session, said the real "Secrets of the Nile" are the little known historical intricacies that make Egypt one of the most fascinating civilizations of the ancient and modern world.

"Ancient Egypt was a very static society," Mardus said. "It was geographically isolated, surrounded on three sides by desert. It had a rigid government, rigid religion. It was not open to change until it was invaded by many.

"And yet the daily lifestyle of these ancient people was in some ways remarkably sophisticated."

Mardus sat in her Delray Beach living room amid artwork and literature from all over the world and talked about the things she wanted to cover in her Horizons course, Secrets of the Nile.

Scheduled to start Jan. 16, the six-week course will discuss the pyramids, the ruins and the temples of ancient Egypt. It will cover the Egyptians' fascination with death, their religion and their history.

"They were remarkably sophisticated in medicine, for instance, and in their treatment of women. Women had more rights than they did in ancient Greece. Egyptian women had the right to own land," Mardus said.

"Then we'll talk about the pyramids. There are interesting theories about why they were built in the first place -- and why they stopped being built. They were not just tombs for the pharaohs."

Horizons program director and course coordinator Joan Medlicott said she spends a lot of time looking for unusual courses and interesting instructors. She had asked Mardus to teach Egyptian history several years ago, but personal reasons had prevented the teacher from accepting the invitation.

This year she called again and Mardus said yes.

"It should be a very interesting course, with a focus on art," Medlicott said.

Mardus said art is what generated her interest in the ancient culture, but King Tut's contemporaries make fascinating personality profiles.

"There was Queen Hatshepsut," Mardus said. "She dressed like a man and wore the false beard of a pharaoh.

"There also was the great religious rebel, Pharaoh Akhenaton. He had the idea there was only one god -- very revolutionary for the time. His wife was Queen Nefertiti, the most beautiful woman in the world."

As for King Tut, most famous of the Egyptian personalities, he died of mysterious causes when he was 18 years old and buried in somebody else's tomb, Mardus said.

"He was probably the most minor of the pharaohs," she said. "It's just that, unlike the others, his tomb was relatively intact when it was found."

Secrets of the Nile is set to run from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the new Mae Volen Senior Center on Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton. It is one of 60 courses scheduled for Horizons' 1986 winter session.

Horizons courses will start Monday. Most run six or eight weeks, with fees from $10 to $20.

Besides Egyptian history, some of the this session's courses include Acting for Fun, Understanding Opera, The Novel in Society, Yoga, Handwriting Analysis, Walks and Talks with a Naturalist and Touring Israel Today.

For his fifth session with Horizons, psychologist Arthur Haggerty of Boca Raton will teach Stress Management. He says it is a non-threatening self-help course nearly everyone could use.

"People have been very receptive to the course," Haggerty said. "It doesn't tell them they're neurotic, only that most people have problems and everyone can learn to cope better.

"They see it as an education process they can use. It's for insomnia, lowering blood pressure, reducing pain. It's nothing psychic or supernatural," he said. "It's about meditation and nutrition -- natural things we've always known about."

Haggerty said his classes are especially good for senior citizens.

"A lot of elderly people have a pessimistic outlook on life. They feel they've lost control," he said. "So what they learn is that, while they can't control their environment, they can control themselves. Learn not to make mountains out of molehills.

"It's all rather common sense. And that's what they find so appealing."

Horizons classes take place at six locations throughout Boca Raton and Delray Beach. They are open to all age groups, residents and non-residents of Palm Beach County. Most classes are scheduled for morning or late afternoon. For more information, call 395-7067.